The Quest for the Golden Owl Moon Part One

This is the beginning of the first story about Princess Griffin

The Quest For Something Better

Princess Griffin sat alone in his living room watching TV late one Saturday night. Reruns of Adventure Time, his ultimate weakness; which turned him into an apathetic lump on a log, were on and he was glued to the living room. Suddenly his phone lit up with an anonymous text message containing a picture of the most beautiful owl moon he had ever seen. Puzzled, but not surprised as everyone knew he loved owl moons, he let it slip his mind and returned to Adventure Time.

Hours later he received another picture; this was of an even more beautiful owl moon. Again he was perplexed, and his curiosity was peaked. He responded to the sender hesitantly, 'Hello?'

'Finally! Where are you?'

'Um do I know you?' he asked confused. Princess Griffin then racked the deepest drunkest parts of his brain for any possible plans he could have made.  He concluded it was unlikely that he had made plans as he never missed an entire evening of reruns.

'CHA! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN DETROIT!’ Taken back by the harsh tone of the message and the confused by the nature of the conversation, Princess Griffin wanted to venture further with questions; but he was interrupted by a loud knocking on his front door.

"Um hello?" he ventured again gingerly walking to the door.

"Why hello!" His dapper Elf friend Mouse said, looking all dressed up and carrying a bag.

"Mouse? What are you doing here? This has been something of an interesting night." Princess Griffin answered and stepping back to allow his friend in. Unusually, Mouse was dressed as a rather formal version of Link from Zelda.

"Just thought I would drop in." Mouse replied, as he wandered around Princess Griffin's apartment musing at the knick knacks. Princess Griffin thought this was odd, given that Mouse lived in Detroit and nowhere near him, nonetheless his train of though was again broken by another text message.

'Where are you?!?!?!?!'

Princess Griffin ventured to ask Mouse about the text message, "do you know anything about these?"

"What? You have been called to quest for the Golden Owl Moon! Only the most beautiful thing in Detroit!" Mouse answered after looking over the pictures. "I knew there was a reason I came over!"

"Wouldn't it have been easier for me to have met you at your place?"

"Nonsense! Then I would have to join your quest far too in! Now I am able to join from the start! We should go and find the mysterious Crafty Witch of Indiana! She will know what to do! And she lives in Detroit."

"Wait, what? That makes no sense"

"Ah Princess just go with it!" Mouse retorted waving his hand dismissively, as if all of this was normal. Thus the two began to make their plans for their quest.

Meanwhile, back in Detroit, the mysterious Crafty Witch of Indiana, was feeling the coming of the important quest. Still such feelings came and went and she shrugged it off without a thought and continued on her day of making earrings. Suddenly her phone received a text message, "ah the quest for the Golden Owl Moon has begun" she mused studying the picture. She put down her earrings and began rummaging her cave for the items needed by the heroes.

"So explain this to me again." Princess Griffin said looking at the plan him and Mouse had written down.

"Well the City of Detroit has been run by corruption for so many years, and worse than even your city of Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, the only way to stop the politicians from killing hookers and steeling billions of dollars from the poor folks of Detroit is to shin them with the Golden Owl Moon of Detroit. We must find it."

"So how did I get roped into this?"

"Well, rumor has it that the quest must be completed by a princess and I bet you are the only one around."

Princess Griffin nodded, "that makes sense".

"Now how should we get there?" Mouse asked. Both checked their notes, which read as follows;

Go to Detroit
Find the Crafty Witch of Indiana
Get the Golden Owl Moon
Save Detroit

"There seems to be many holes in this plan...how did you get here?" Princess Griffin asked Mouse.

He shrugged, "I dunno".

"Mystery abounds! Well I guess we could walk? Or hitchhike?"

"That works" Mouse answered.

"Which one?"

"Yes" and the two began to venture to Mouse's home city of Detroit, after Princess Griffin packed a bag with some essentials, they had a leaser breakfast, took a nap-as they were lethargic from all the rich food-, ate a smaller lunch, and went shopping, for everyone knows you cannot quest without the proper garb.

'Are you guys leaving yet?' the stranger texted to Princess Griffin after the two finally began to walk several hours later.

"Y-E-S" Princess Griffin vocalized as he answered.

"What?" Asked Mouse as they walked down the street of the apartment.

"Never mind"

"Fair enough. So are we there yet?" Mouse began after walking for only twenty minutes. Princess Griffin rolled his eyes and decided this was going to be a long journey.

 

Another text message lit up the Crafty Witch of Indiana's phone, she finished what she was doing and paused to look at it. 'These guys are stupidest heroes we have ever hired. WTF?' She laughed and rolled her eyes. She took this as her cue to venture out for them herself, as she was unsure of their ability to find her.

"Dam and I was really looking forward to relaxing before this one." She mumbled as she scuttled around her cave gathering this and that for that trip. "Mama will be home in a little bit with some travelers, be safe my love." she blew kisses at her albino bat Peach and wandered out the door.

"Now how am I supposed to travel in this tale?" She pondered for a moment, and decided on a horse, with two donkeys to follow.

The Crafty Witch of Indiana had dressed for the quest in jeans, a green 3/4 length tee-shirt, and a blue cape with a hood and a clasp on the nape of the neck. Once she got the horse ready, she mounted. "This would be so much faster if we had cars," she mumbled to herself, knowing that the journey would take some time. Not to mention she had to pray and hope that she did not have to go on a wild goose chase to find the heroes, or that they did not go the wrong way.

"So which way are we supposed to go?" Princess Griffin asked Mouse as they approached I-94.

"Well East is toward Indiana and we don't want to go there so, West?" Mouse asked pondering the street sign.

"Sounds right," and the two began heading west away from Indiana.

After some time passed in silence, Princess Griffin suggested playing twenty questions with things around them.

"I spy with my little eye," started Mouse.

"No, no, not I spy, twenty questions." Princess Griffin corrected him.

"Isn't it the same thing?" Mouse asked pondering the new information.

"Not at all!" Princess Griffin confirmed.

"How?" Mouse asked with thirsting curiosity.

"Well, one you look for things and describe it, and the other...you look for things and I ask you questions about it." Princess Griffin finally answered.

"So it only changes on who does the talking?...It is the same thing!" Mouse said. Princess Griffin was a bit irritated, but conceded that his reasoning as to why the two were different did not really make much sense.

"You know what's strange? We have not seen another living soul all day." Princess Griffin observed. Mouse nodded in agreement but shrugged, again as if everything was so normal. "This is just all so strange, how did this happen again?" Mouse shrugged again and became distracted with his own thoughts. He was curious to meet the Mysterious Crafty Witch of Indiana, he had heard many stories about her.

Time began to become extremely subjective, and it seemed the longer the two spent pondering things the less time their walk seemed to take. The two were so absorbed in thought, that neither noticed the numerous different state lines that they were crossing, until Princess Griffin ran into one.

"Wyoming? Mouse we're in Wyoming! Are you sure we're going to right way? Do you usually drive through Wyoming when you are coming over for a visit?" The two were standing in front of the sign and staring. Mouse pondered trying to remember how he traveled to Chicago each and every time before when he visited Princess Griffin. For the life of him he could not remember ever driving to see Princess Griffin. Each time he had ventured to Chicago, some strange, or not so strange for Mouse, seemed to happen and he just ended up on Princess Griffin's door step.

"I don't know, but we have been walking for a while and I don't recognize any of this. Should we stop and ask for directions?" Mouse asked, noticing a billboard for a nearby cafe.
Princess Griffin followed Mouse's gaze and found the sign for the cafe with a sandwich painted for advertisement.

 "No but I agree food does sound good, we have been walking sometime. Besides maybe we will find the Crafty Witch of Indiana in there" he said pointing to the billboard.

The two decided to veer off the road and walk in the direction of the arrow, also painted on the sign, thinking it would be a short cut. Mouse was a little anxious about going into a small patch of woods that separated them from the cafe, but Princess Griffin reassured him that everything would be fine.

As they entered the patch of trees, things seemed to fall very dark on them. "Is it night time already?" asked Mouse clutching to Princess Griffin's arm. Princess Griffin just brushed off his question, as he honestly did not know. His last recollection of the sun put it much higher in the sky; nonetheless that was hours ago as he had been lost in his thoughts; contemplating the last episode of Adventure Time that he had seen in the marathon.

"I hope there're no bats in these woods, I detest bats." Mouse said to Princess Griffin holding on tighter to his arm.

"There won't be Mouse, they live don't live in the woods, they much prefer caves. You see Mouse, BATS" Princess Griffin yelled as-what looked like a million, in Mouse's fearful brain, but was really only about twenty or so-bats swooped in on them out of nowhere.

"Princess! I thought you said there would be no bats!" Mouse cried as he hid under Princess Griffin hiding behind a log.

"I don't understand Mouse! Bats only live in caves; there are no caves in Wyoming!" Princess Griffin answered as he swung his bag and a stick he found; rotating each and using the opposite arm to cover him and Mouse.

Just then the two heard a clicking sound, like a cat hunting pray. All the bats flew away, and it seemed as if the sun was beginning to peak in over the tree line.

"Was that a cat?" Mouse asked being more interested and mimicking the sound. As he did the sky became darker again and the bats could be heard in the distance getting closer.

"IDIOT! STOP THAT!" a loud female voice yelled, then she repeated the sound again and the bats went away for a second time.

"Hum, Mouse do it again, this is kind of fun." Princess Griffin said, amused by the back and forth. Mouse smiled with the same amusement and took in a large breath ready to mimic the sound when a bat flew and landed on his head.

"Ah! Get it off! Get it off!" Mouse yelled frantically hitting himself in the head, as the small creature dodged him and presided snuggled into his shoulder away from his flaying.

"Mouse, Mouse cool it! I'll get it just stand still!" Princess Griffin said trying to pin Mouse's arms to his side.

As Mouse began to calm down he looked at his shoulder and saw the small adolescent bat snuggled into his shoulder, and could not help but smile. "Aw look at how cute she is, snuggled into my shoulder like that" he said.

"Okay just stand still and I will scoop her off," said Princess Griffin reaching with his hands to scoop the bat.

"NO!" Mouse cried slapping his hands away, "you'll wake her up, she's so peaceful and cute" Princess Griffin rolled his eyes at him. Then, as Mouse cooed after his new found friend, Princess Griffin noticed a stranger coming closer to them. She was mounted on a large horse with a bag secured on the back wrapped in a blue cloak with two donkeys trailing behind.

"Why lady are you lost?" Princess Griffin ventured, always willing to side quest in order to save a damsel.

"Lady? Sir you must be mistaken; besides you two are the ones lost! How the hell did you get all the way to Wyoming on foot in only two hours?" the woman asked dismounting and leading her horse closer to the two.

"Um...Come again?" Princess Griffin asked confused.

She looked the two of them over. She made a perturbed face while looking at Mouse, as he was ignoring her completely and absorbed in whispering sweet nothings to his small bat. "I have been looking all over for the two of you." She answered.

"The two of us? What could you want with the two of us?" Princess Griffin asked hitting Mouse for his attention, curious if this was a friend or foe.

"Mysterious Crafty Witch of Indiana!" Mouse lit up. She smiled and nodded, then reached into her saddle bag and pulled out two stick looking things.

"Here, you'll need these" She said throwing one to each of them.
"Are these...?" Mouse trailed off in astonishment, while Princess Griffin turned the object over in his hands confused.

"Yup ‘laser swords’." She said, putting bunny ears around the words smiling proudly and nodding.

Princess Griffin's face lit up as well. “Light Sabers? How…” the Crafty Witch hit him hard in the arm.

“No ‘laser swords’ copy rights and such” She said to him with a stern face.

"How...how did you get these?" He asked, as Mouse turned his on and slashed it around making sound effects.

 “Traded with some guy in this bar for a POS space craft, he seemed real desperate to find transportation, I think he was on the lam. The bar had a real crappy band playing, but the tune keeps getting stuck in my head” She trailed off humming an obnoxious tune lost in a memory.

Author's Note

See notes for the book